<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>mechanism by doodleyLinguist</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27144949">mechanism</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/doodleyLinguist/pseuds/doodleyLinguist'>doodleyLinguist</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Among Us (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abduction, Analysis, Blood and Gore, Gen, Gore, Headcanon, Introspection, Murder, Nameless Characters, No beta we die in electrical, Nonbinary Character, headcanon heavy, hopefully consistent tense, i kept this vague on purpose, space murder</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:42:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,111</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27144949</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/doodleyLinguist/pseuds/doodleyLinguist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>have you ever wondered how the ejection mechanism works?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>mechanism</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>oh? I’m writing among us fan fiction?<br/>yes. I analyzed The Funny Space Game too much and got this</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>There's an airlock open mechanism on the outside of the door.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They question it at first, when they first board the Skeld as a bright-eyed newbie</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Why would you put a way to open the second airlock door on the outside?" they'd asked during one of the more idyllic moments during their assignment to the ship.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The person next to them stiffened slightly, and turned away.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It's for security and safety reasons. You'll see why when we do need to use it."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pressing their more experienced partner further proved to be fruitless, as every attempt was deflected or the conversation redirected to something like the time it took to upload and transfer data.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So, they resolved themselves to doing their tasks and keeping their rampant brain away from the strangely placed mechanism.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Skeld, as top-of-the-line as it claimed to be, wasn't always fully functional. Shields had to be refreshed, wiring was always coming undone, the garbage chute had an annoying habit of clogging every week, and the O2 filters were chock full of debris.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Worse, however, was all the sabotages and life-threatening malfunctions. Once, they were shut in the medbay for a solid minute and a half and remembered curling up on one of the sick beds, staring at the unassuming vent in the corner the whole time as their heart pounded like a jackhammer in their ears.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the doors finally opened again, they practically fell into the hallway, a shaking bundle of nerves. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Apparently the doors suddenly closing was an unnervingly common occurrence, alongside the comms going offline, the reactor suddenly heating up, and the O2 system failing out of the blue.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Electrical getting cut and the whole ship being plunged into darkness was their least favorite. The stampede of crewmates rushing to the tiny, cramped and walled-off room was ample fuel for their paranoid brain, and the barely present radius of light their suit gave off did batshit to ward away their fear.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the lights finally came back on after the latest sabotage, they let their arms fall to their sides with a sigh of relief.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A sigh, which quickly turned to a scream as they saw the rapidly growing pool of dark, gleaming blood at their feet, and the crudely torn-off lower half of one of their fellow crewmates. Mangled flesh and snapped bone jutted out from the bloody stump, and the once pristine pressure suit was now torn and rapidly darkening with the flow of the blood. They could only manage a small whimper as they pressed the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Report</span>
  </em>
  <span> button on their tablet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone had assembled around the central table in the cafeteria, already engaged in discussion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Let's begin this meeting with the obvious," the leader said. "The newbie found a dead body in electrical."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A crewmate to the left of them scoffed, crossing their arms lazily. "Bet they're the fucking impostor. It's always a self-report in electrical, I'll bet my career on this."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Enough. We need to be productive, instead of hurling baseless accusations at each other. Everyone, please give a recount of where you were."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A chorus of voices immediately rang out across the table.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I was in medbay!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We were both headed to O2."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I was monitoring admin."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I saw them pass by me when I was in reactor."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Wait," a crewmate across from them suddenly cut in. "You said you </span>
  <em>
    <span>saw</span>
  </em>
  <span> them pass by you?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah," the other scoffed, leaning back in their seat. "What about it?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Electrical was out. It's near impossible to have seen anyone in the dark," they explained, gesturing with their hands. "Unless...YOU WERE THE IMPOSTOR?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Now hold on-" the accused began, but was quickly drowned out by all the accusations.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You were pretty sus now that I think of it…"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I did see a sudden jump from security to electrical."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"There's no other explanation for what you said! You're the impostor!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They were panicking now, slamming their hands on the table.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm not the impostor! You guys have to believe me!” they protested, voice shaky with emotion. “Please!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The “leader” of the group picked up their tablet as they stared down the suspect. A voice, dry and clear, speaks from the device.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Voting has begun. Crewmates, cast your vote for who you think is the impostor. You have. One. Minute.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone else shuffled to take out their tablets, clunky gloved fingers moving towards the tiny screen as the accused spluttered cry after cry.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All crewmates have voted,” the mechanical voice came again, after the newbie shakily pressed the </span>
  <em>
    <span>VOTE</span>
  </em>
  <span> button next to the small color-coded icon. “Crewmates, engage in the ejection procedure.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ejection-” they were cut off by a surge of people, shoving, pushing, running towards the guilty as they kept screaming and screaming.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re wrong, YOU’RE ALL WRONG, YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME!” they shrieked, flailing as two other crewmates grabbed their arms, pinning them straight and hauling them towards the door.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Towards the double-layered airlock door.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Their blood ran cold as they saw two more people come and pin their legs still, and their elder—the leader—walk over to the door, to the control panel, to the lever which they pulled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The door hissed open, and with a great heave they shoved the guilty into the tiny chamber. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Get back, get back!” Someone called, as they tried to crawl their way out of the airlock. The room seemed miles away as their body shambled toward the door controls, and without thinking they pushed the door seal button.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No- please NO, NO YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME YOU-” their voice was cut off by the chamber sealing shut, replaced by the pounding of their fists.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What are we do- oh my god,” they breathed, as the leader cracked open the clear plastic casing of the secondary airlock mechanism.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ejection confirmed. Automatic ejection in 10 seconds.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Manual override,” the leader spoke, and slammed the button.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a sickening </span>
  <em>
    <span>thunk</span>
  </em>
  <span> as the door slowly opened, and the newbie barely caught a glimpse of the victim’s face, frozen in fear, before it shrunk into a tiny, colorful speck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The ship shuddered violently, and only a second slam of the door mechanism stopped the vessel from caving in on themself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Their vision blurred as they stared into the inky darkness of space, a minute blob of color slowly growing smaller in the corner of their vision. They stand there for an eternity, dumbstruck and shocked. They stand there as people slowly file out of the cafeteria, and the leader slowly comes to clap them on the back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Skeld has an airlock open mechanism on the outside. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They know what it does now.  </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>bug me about my murder space beans on<br/>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thespaceaxolotl/?hl=en">@thespaceaxolotl</a><br/>Tumblr: <a href="https://natto-axolotl.tumblr.com">@natto-axolotl</a><br/>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/NattoAxolotl">@NattoAxolotl</a><br/></p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>